Conservatives In Both Parties Look To Help The Rich By Cutting Estate Taxes

If I were Keith Olbermann, I'd put Sens. Kyl (R-AZ) and Lincoln (D-AR) as two of the worst persons in the world for today's show. These two Senators and their fellow supporters should be publicly shamed for what they consider a priority in their duties as Senators. Instead of backing the President and supporting sound, progressive policies, Kyl and others are focusing on reducing the estate taxes for the very wealthy.

From ThinkProgress:

Sens. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) and Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) have offered a $250 billion proposal to cut estate taxes for the children of multi-millionaires. The proposal is attracting a disturbing amount of support. In an editorial this morning, The New York Times writes that, while the nation is focused on ending the deep recession, Kyl and Lincoln’s “most pressing issue is clear: America’s wealthiest families need help. Now.” The Wonk Room’s Ben Furnas noted yesterday:

While opponents of the estate tax claim rolling it back protects small farms and businesses, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities points out that “only 0.2 percent of the additional cost of the proposal, relative to [the Obama proposal], would go toward tax cuts for small businesses and farms.”

The rest of the cost, approximately $249.5 billion, would go to the inheritors of estates worth over $7 million. Paris Hilton, get excited.

Now of course Blanche Lincoln is from Arkansas, home of the wealthiest family in the world and I presume supporters of her and her conservative outlook on matters such as this. I expect this type of pandering to the rich from Republicans, but I loathe to see it in Democrats, even blue dogs like Blanche. Democrats need to stand up for the people, and I sincerely doubt that a majority of Arkansans want to see the Walton family getting preferential treatment before every other family in the state.

McCain: Against The Estate Tax After Being For It

The mavericky Maverick is at it again, making a reasoned adjustment switching flip-flopping his position on the estate tax. While he was just another Senator he bucked his party, sounding like he had common sense and speaking out against the small fraction of people that wanted to do away with a tax on estates that are worth millions and billions of dollars. Now that he is running and trying to hold on to the conservative base, his views are-a-changin'.

From Crooks and Liars:

McCain used to see through this nonsense.

“In his 1906 State of the Union Address, President Theodore Roosevelt proposed the creation of a federal inheritance tax . Roosevelt explained: ‘The man of great wealth owes a peculiar obligation to the State because he derives special advantages from the mere existence of government.’ Additionally, in a 1907 speech he said: ‘Most great civilized countries have an income tax and an inheritance tax. In my judgment both should be part of our system of federal taxation.’ He noted, however, that such taxation should ‘be aimed merely at the inheritance or transmission in their entirety of those fortunes swollen beyond all healthy limits.’

“I agree with President Roosevelt, and I remain opposed to full repeal of the estate tax.”

That is, until he became the Republican presidential nominee. Now, McCain finds the estate tax offensive.

“Another of my disagreements with Senator Obama concerns the estate tax, which he proposes to increase to a top rate of 55 percent. The estate tax is one of the most unfair tax laws on the books, and the first step to reform is to keep it predictable and keep it low. After a lifetime building up a business, and paying taxes on every dollar that business earns, that asset should not be subjected to a confiscatory tax.”

Why, it’s almost as if McCain were some kind of flip-flopper or something. Heaven forbid.

Maybe Teddy Roosevelt was just another red communist who wanted to penalize all those "hard working" Americans who have millions of dollars socked away. Why would Obama want to be in favor of stripping elite families of a portion of the wealth they didn't earn. Earning a living is a terrible thing when you can just be born or marry into it.